Babylon

Revelation 14-

VERSE 6. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,    7.    Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.   8.    And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.   9.   And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,   10.   The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 'which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:   11.   And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.   12.   Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

(Excerpt from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911)

The Second Message. -  This message, following the first, is announced (verse 8) in these few words: "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

The chronology of this message is determined, to a great extent, by that of the first message. This cannot precede that; but that, as has been shown, is confined to the last days; yet this must be given before the end, for no move of this kind is possible after that event. It is therefore a part of that religious movement which takes place in the last days with especial reference to the coming of Christ.

The inquiries therefore naturally follow:   What is meant by the term Babylon? what is its fall? and how is it fulfilled? As to the etymology of the word, we learn something from the marginal readings of Gen. 10:10 and 11:9. The beginning of Nimrod's kingdom was Babel, or Babylon; and the place was so called because God there confounded the language of the builders of the tower; and the word means confusion. The word is here used figuratively to designate the great symbolic

p 648 -- 

(picture omitted)

p 649 -- city of the book of Revelation, probably with special reference to the signification of the term, and the circumstances from which it originated. It applies to something on which, as specifying its chief characteristic, may be written the word "confusion."

There are but three possible objects to which the word can be applied; and these are   (1)   the apostate religious world in general,   (2)   the papal church in particular, and   (3)   the city of Rome. In examining these terms, we shall first show what Babylon is not.

   1.  Babylon is not confined to the Romish Church. That this church is a very prominent component part of great Babylon, is not denied. The descriptions of chapter 17 seem to apply very particularly to that church. But the name which she bears on her forehead, "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth," reveals other family connections. If this church is the mother, who are the daughters? The fact that these daughters are spoken of, shows that there are other religious bodies besides the Romish Church which come under this designation. Again, there is to be a call made in connection with this message, "Come out of her, my people" (Rev. 18:1-4); and as this message is located in the present generation, it follows, if no other church but the Romish is included in Babylon, that the people of God, as a body, are now found in the communion of that church, and are to be called out. But this conclusion, no Protestant at least will be willing to adopt.

   2.  Babylon is not the city of Rome. The argument relied upon to show that the city of Rome is the Babylon of the Apocalypse runs thus: "The angel told John that the woman which he had seen was the great city which reigned over the kings of the earth, and that the seven heads of the beast are seven mountains upon which the woman sitteth." And then, taking the city and the mountains to be literal, and finding Rome built upon just seven hills, the application is made at once to literal Rome.

The principle upon which this interpretation rests is the assumption that the explanation of a symbol must always be

p 650 -- literal. It falls to the ground the moment it can be shown that symbols are sometimes explained by substituting for them other symbols, and then explaining the latter. This can easily be done. In Rev. 11:3, the symbol of the two witnesses is introduced. The next verse reads: "These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth." In this case the first symbol is said to be the same as another symbol which is elsewhere clearly explained. So in the case before us. "The seven heads are seven mountains," and "The woman is that great city;" and it will not be difficult to show that the mountains and the city are both used symbolically. The reader's attention is asked to the following points: -

       (1)   We are informed in chapter 13 that one of the seven heads was wounded to death. This head therefore cannot be a literal mountain; for it would be folly to speak of wounding a mountain to death.

       (2)    Each of the seven heads has a crown upon it. But who ever saw a literal mountain with a crown upon it?

       (3)   The seven heads are evidently successive in order of time; for we read, "Five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come." Revelation 17. But the seven hills on which Rome is built are not successive, and it would be absurd to apply such language to them.

       (4)   According to Dan. 7:6, compared with Dan. 8:8, 22, heads denote governments; and according to Dan. 2:35, 44; Jer. 51:25, mountains denote kingdoms. According to these facts, the version of Rev. 17:9, 10 given by Professor Whiting, which is a literal translation of the text, removes all obscurity:  "The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth, and they are seven kings."   It will thus be seen that the angel represents the heads as mountains, and then explains the mountains to be seven successive kings, or forms of government. The meaning is transferred from one symbol to another, and then an explanation is given of the second symbol.

From the foregoing argument, it follows that the "woman" cannot represent a literal city; for the mountains upon which the woman sitteth being symbolic, a literal city cannot sit

p 651 -- upon symbolic mountains. Again, Rome was the seat of the dragon of chapter 12, and this was transferred to the beast (Rev. 13:2), thus becoming the seat of the beast; but it would be a singular mixture of figures to take the seat, which is sat upon by the beast, and make that a woman sitting upon the beast.

       (5)   Were the city of Rome the Babylon of the Apocalypse, what nonsense should we have in chapter 18:1-4; for in this case the fall of Babylon would be the overthrow and destruction of the city, in fact, its utter consumption by fire, according to verse 8. But mark what takes place after the fall. Babylon becomes a habitation of devils, the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. How can this happen to a city after that city is destroyed, even being utterly burned with fire? But worse still, after all this a voice is heard, saying, "Come out of her, my people." Are God's people in Rome? - Not to any great extent, even in her best estate. But how many can we suppose to be there, to be called out, after the city is burned with fire? It is not necessary to say more to show that Babylon cannot be the city of Rome.

  3. Babylon signifies the universal worldly church. Having seen that it cannot be any one of the only other three possible objects to which it could be applied, it must mean this. But we are not left to this a priori kind of reasoning on this subject. Babylon is called a woman. A woman, used as a symbol, signifies a church. The woman of chapter 12 was interpreted to mean a church. The woman of chapter 17 should undoubtedly be interpreted as signifying also a church. The character of the woman determines the character of the church represented, a chaste woman standing for a pure church, a vile woman for an impure or apostate church. The woman Babylon is herself a harlot, and the mother of daughters like herself. This circumstance, as well as the name itself, shows that Babylon is not limited to any single ecclesiastical body, but must be composed of many. It must take in all of a like nature, and represent the entire corrupt or apostate church of the earth. This will perhaps explain the language of Rev.18:24,

p 652 -- which represents that when God makes requisition upon great Babylon for the blood of his martyrs, in her will be found "the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all" that have been slain upon the earth. The Greek Church is the established church of Russia and Greece; the Lutheran Church is the established church of Prussia, Holland, Sweden, Norway, and a part of the smaller German states; England has Episcopacy for her state religion, and other countries have their established religions, and zealously oppose dissenters. Babylon has made all nations drunken with the wine of her fornication, that is, her false doctrines; it can therefore symbolize nothing less than the universal worldly church.

The great city, Babylon, is spoken of as composed of three divisions. So the great religions of the world may be arranged under three heads. The first, oldest, and most wide-spread is paganism, separately symbolized under the form of a dragon; the second is the great Romish apostasy, symbolized by the beast; and the third is the daughters, or descendants from that church. Under this head comes the two-horned beast, though that does not embrace it all. War, oppression, conformity to the world, the worship of mammon, the creed-power, pursuit of pleasure, and the maintenance of very many errors of the old Romish Church, identify, with sad and faithful accuracy, the great body of the Protestant churches as an important constituent part of this great Babylon.

A glance at some of the ways in which the Protestant church has deported herself will still further show this. Rome, having the power, destroyed vast multitudes of those whom she adjudged heretics. The Protestant church has shown the same spirit. Witness the burning of Michael Servetus by the Protestants of Geneva with John Calvin at their head. Witness the long-continued oppression of dissenters by the Church of England. Witness the hanging of Quakers and whipping of Baptists even by the Puritan fathers of New England, themselves fugitives from like oppression by the Church of England. But these, some may say, are things of the past. Very true; yet they show that when persons governed by strong religious prejudice have the power to coerce dissenters,

p 653 -- they cannot forbear to use it - a state of things which we look for in this country under a further fulfilment of the closing prophecy of chapter 13.

Mark also how far they have departed from the teachings of Christ in other respects. Christ forbade his people to seek after the treasures of this world. But the popular church, as a body, exhibits greater eagerness for wealth than do worldlings themselves. In how many churches does mammon bear rule! Christ says, "Be not ye called Rabbi," that is, master, or doctor; "for one is your Master, even Christ." To do this is to partake of the same spirit which has led aspiring men to assume to be the head of the church, the successor of St. Peter, the vicegerent of Christ, and a god upon earth. Yet how many in the Protestant church, in imitation of the Romish, adopt the title of "Reverend," which in our version of the Scriptures is applied to God alone: "Holy and reverend is his name." But not content with this, some become "Very Reverend," and "Right Reverend," and "Doctors of Divinity." The New Testament speaks in the most decided terms against adornments and extravagance in dress; yet where shall we look for a display of the latest fashions, the most costly attire, the most gaudy adornments, the richest diamonds, and the most dazzling jewelry, except in a fashionable assembly in a Protestant church on a pleasant Sunday? Such is now the state of the religious world, that many, in pursuit of their vocation as lawyers, doctors, politicians, merchant kings, etc., seek through the avenue of church connection success in business, honor in society, high offices in the nation, and lucrative positions everywhere. And much more of this will be seen, when, as already explained, church and state shall be united in America, and a religious profession shall become a qualification for political office. To adopt the form of godliness from such motives must be most abominable in the sight of God; yet these very classes are welcomed by the churches, because it will make them still more popular.

Babylon is represented as trafficking in the souls of men. A custom common in the Church of England would seem to come under this head. There, vacant livings are sometimes set

p 654 -- up for sale, and the highest bidder, regardless of his moral qualifications or religious standing, becomes the possessor of the revenue belonging to the position, and the pastor of the people of that parish. To come to the United States, look at all the arts and devices resorted to draw the multitude, not to convert and save them, but to gain their patronage and influence. The most disastrous result of all this is that the minister must preach smooth things, and tickle fashionable ears with pleasing fables.

It was the will of Christ that his church should be one. He prayed that his disciples might be one, as he and the Father were one; for this would give power to his gospel, and cause the world to believe in him. Instead of this, look at the confusion that exists in the Protestant world, the many sectional walls that divide it up into a network of societies, and the many creeds, discordant as the languages of those who were dispersed at the tower of Babel. God is not the author of all these. It is just this state of things which the word Babylon, as a descriptive term, appropriately designates. It is evidently used for this very purpose, and not at all as a term of reproach. Instead of being stirred with feelings of resentment when this term is mentioned, people should rather examine their position, to see if in faith or practice they are guilty of any connection with this great city of confusion, and if so, separate at once therefrom.

The true church is a chaste virgin. 2 Cor. 11:2. The church that is joined with the world in friendship, is a harlot. It is this unlawful connection with the kings of the earth that constitutes her the great harlot of the Apocalypse. Revelation 17. Thus the Jewish Church, at first espoused to the Lord (Jeremiah, chapters 2, 3, and 31:32), became a harlot. Ezekiel 16. This church, when thus apostatized from God, was called Sodom (Isaiah 1), just as "the great city" (Babylon) is so called in Revelation 11. The unlawful union with the world of which Babylon is guilty, is positive proof that it is not the civil power. That the people of God are in her midst just before her overthrow is proof that she is professedly a religious body. For these reasons, is it not very evident that

p 655 -- the Babylon of the Apocalypse is the professed church united with the world?

*******

So much truth.

The apostate church. Rome is NOT the only church that is not a true follower of our Savior. There are MANY protestant churches- churches that left the catholic church for its revealed lies- which have adopted their own lies.  Even today we have many churches, many, many variations of all churches so many we can scarcely count them all. And all but those who follow Christ and no other, are among the false churches. Those who follow lies of any sort are not Christ's. You can't follow a single untruth and belong to Christ, you just can't. In Him there is NO GUILE, no untruth, no lies! We can't hold to one lie and truly believe we are following our Savior. Yes there are many, so many who are willing to adhere to false beliefs because they are tradition, because they sound good, because they please their ears, their sin clouded minds accept the lie because they are prettied up, they are covered in wonderful, amazing truths that make them happy enough to forget the lies. They don't want to unearth the lies beneath the truth and our Savior KNOWS, He KNOWS!  And what He knows is that He can't KNOW those who will not seek ALL truth!

Please, Father, please let us know and follow ALL truth! We would not belong to the beast, we would not belong to Babylon!

All by the GRACE of our LORD JESUS CHRIST!

AMEN!

Judged

Revelation 14-

VERSE 6. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,    7.    Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.   8.    And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.   9.   And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,   10.   The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 'which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:   11.   And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.   12.   Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

(Excerpt from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911)

"But it must be apparent to every student of the Scriptures that the angel who proclaims the hour of God's judgment does not give the latest message of mercy. Revelation 14 presents two other and later proclamations before the close of human probation. This fact alone is sufficient to prove that the coming of the Lord does not take place until the second and third proclamations have been added to the first. The same thing may also be seen in the fact that after the angel of chapter 10 has sworn that time shall be no longer, another work of prophesying before many people and nations is announced. Hence we understand that the first angel preaches the hour of God's judgment come; that is, he preaches the termination of the prophetic periods; and that this is the time which he swears shall be no longer.

"The judgment does of necessity commence before the advent

p 645 -- of Christ; for he comes to execute the judgment (Jude 14, 15; Rev. 22;12; 2 Tim. 4:1); and at the sound of the last trumpet be confers immortality upon every one of the righteous, and passes by all the wicked. The investigative judgment does therefore precede the execution of the same by the Saviour. It is the province of the Father to preside in this investigative work, as set forth in Daniel 7. At this tribunal, the Son closes up his work as high priest, and is crowned king. Thence he comes to earth to execute the decisions of his Father. It is this work of judgment by the Father which the first angel introduces.

"The great period of 2300 days, which was the most important period in marking the definite time in that proclamation, extends to the cleansing of the sanctuary. That the cleansing of the sanctuary is not the cleansing of any part of the earth, but that it is the last work of our great High Priest in the heavenly tabernacle before his advent to the earth, has been clearly shown. [See on Dan. 8:14.] And we understand that it is while the work of cleansing the sanctuary is taking place, that the latest message of mercy is proclaimed. Thus it will be seen that the prophetic periods, and the proclamation which is based upon them, do not extend to the coming of the Lord."

That the mistake made by adventists in 1844 was not in the time, has been shown by the argument on the seventy weeks and twenty-three hundred days in Daniel 9; that it was in the nature of the event to occur at the end of those days, has been shown in the argument on the sanctuary in Daniel 8. Supposing that the earth was the sanctuary, and that its cleansing was to be accomplished by fire at the revelation of the Lord from heaven, they naturally looked for the appearing of Christ at the end of the days. And through their misapprehension on this point, they met with a crushing disappointment, though everything which the prophecy declared, and everything which they were warranted to expect, took place with absolute accuracy at that time. There the cleansing of the sanctuary began; but this did not bring Christ to this earth, for the earth is not the sanctuary; and its cleansing does not involve the destruction

p 646 -- of the earth, for it is accomplished with the blood of a sacrificial offering, not with fire. Here was the bitterness of the little book to the church. Rev. 10:10. Here was the coming of one like the Son of man, not to this earth, but to the Ancient of days. Dan. 7:13, 14. Here was the coming of the Bridegroom to the marriage, as set forth in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. We have spoken of the midnight cry of that parable in the summer of 1844. The foolish virgins then said to the wise, "Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone [margin, going] out." The wise answered, "Go and buy for yourselves." And while they went to buy, the Bridegroom came. This is not the coming of Christ to this earth; for it is a coming which precedes the marriage; but the marriage, that is, the reception of the kingdom (see on chapter 21), must precede his coming to this earth to receive to himself his people, who are to be the guests at the marriage supper. Luke 19:12; Rev. 19:7-9. This coming, in the parable, must therefore be the same as the coming to the Ancient of days spoken of in Dan. 7:13, 14.

And they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. After the Bridegroom comes to the marriage, there is an examination of guests, to see who are ready to participate in the ceremony, according to the parable of Matt. 22 :1-13. As the last thing before the marriage, the King comes in to see the guests, to ascertain if all are properly arrayed in the wedding garment; and whoever, after due examination, is found with the garment on, and is accepted by the King, never after loses that garment, but is sure of immortality. But this question of fitness for the kingdom can be determined only by the investigative judgment of the sanctuary. This closing work in the sanctuary, therefore, which is the cleansing of the sanctuary, and the atonement, is nothing else than the examination of the guests to see who have on the wedding garment; and consequently until this work is finished, it is not determined who are "ready" to go in to the marriage. "They that were ready went in with him to the marriage." By this short expression we are carried from the time when the Bridegroom comes to the marriage,

p 647 -- entirely through the period of the cleansing of the sanctuary, or the examination of the guests; and when this is concluded, probation will end, and the door will be shut.

The connection of the parable with the message under examination is now apparent. It brings to view a period of making ready the guests for the marriage of the Lamb, which is the work of judgment to which the message brings us when it declares, "The hour of his judgment is come." This message was to be proclaimed with a loud voice. It went forth with the power thus indicated between the years 1840-44, more especially in the seventh-month movement of the latter year, bringing us to the end of the 2300 days, when the work of judgment commenced as Christ began the work of cleansing the sanctuary.

But, as has been already shown, this did not bring the close of probation, but only the period of the investigative judgment. In this judgment we are now living; and during this time other messages are proclaimed, as the prophecy further declares.

 *******

We are living in the time of judgment.

We don't know WHEN we are being judged by God.

We don't know WHEN our probation is us and sentence passed.

We DO know that when we die our probation is automatically over. Why, because we can know longer choose Christ as our Savior when we are dead. If we chose Jesus Christ as our Savior before we died and belong to Him, and He knows us, then we are dead IN Christ and when He returns we will rise from our graves and meet him in the air and forever be with Him.  If we do not know Him, and do not choose Him, and He does not know us, then we are forever dead- we will die eternally and be know more eternally, we will suffer the punishment due to us for our sins and then be no more, non-existent. 

We cannot know when we will die, and we cannot choose to wait to accept Christ until we are close to death, because our Savior knows our heart and knows the sincerity of our hearts, salvation is NO game to Him.

We choose Him NOW, we never delay, never, ever wait to accept Christ!

He is our all in all! He is our everything!

We  have been given prophecy and we know by prophecy and history the truth of it all and we know those alive In Christ when our Savior returns will be judged and found worthy through HIM.

Please, Lord, please may we be found worthy in CHRIST, in HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Forgive us, save us!

All by YOUR MERCY, LOVE, and GRACE!

Amen!

Patiently Waiting

Revelation 14-

VERSE 6. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,    7.    Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.   8.    And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.   9.   And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,   10.   The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 'which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:   11.   And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.   12.   Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

(Excerpt from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911)

The First Message. -  Another scene and another chain of prophetic events is introduced in these verses. We know that this is so, because the preceding verses of this chapter describe a company of the redeemed in the immortal state - a scene which constitutes a part of the prophetic chain commencing 

p 632 -- 

(picture omitted)

p 633 -- with the first verse of chapter 12, and with which that chain of events closes; for no prophecy goes beyond the immortal state; and whenever we are brought in a line of prophecy to the end of the world, we know that that line there ends, and that what is introduced subsequently belongs to a new series of events. The Revelation in particular is composed of these independent prophetic chains, as has already been set forth, of which fact, previous to this instance, we have had a number of examples.

The messages described in these verses are known as "the three angel's messages of Revelation 14." We are justified in applying to them the ordinals, first second, and third, by the prophecy itself; for the last one is distinctly called "the third angel," from which it follows that the one preceding was the second angel; and the one before that, the first angel.

These angels are evidently symbolic; for the work assigned them is that of preaching the everlasting gospel to the people. But the preaching of the gospel has not been entrusted to literal angels; it has been committed unto men, who are responsible for this sacred trust placed in their hands. Each of these three angels, therefore, symbolizes a body of religious teachers, who are commissioned to make known to their fellow men the special truths which constitute the burden of these messages respectively.

But we are to consider further that angels, literally, are intensely interested in the work of grace among men, being sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. And as there is order in all the movements and appointments of the heavenly world, it may not be fanciful to suppose that a literal angel has charge and oversight of the work of each message. Heb. 1:14; Rev. 1:1; 22:16.

In these symbols we see the sharp contrast the Bible draws between earthly and heavenly things. Wherever earthly governments are to be represented, - even the best of them, - the most appropriate symbol that can be found is a cruel and ravenous wild beast; but when the work of God is to be set forth, an angel, clad in beauty and girt with power, is taken to symbolize it.

p 634 -- The importance of the work set forth in the verses last quoted will be apparent to any one who will attentively study them. Whenever these messages are due, and are proclaimed, they must, from the very nature of the case, constitute the great theme of interest for that generation. We do not mean that the great mass of mankind then living will give them attention; for in every age of the world, the present truth for that time has been generally overlooked; but they will constitute the theme to which the people would pay most earnest regard if they were awake to that which concerns their highest interests. When God commissions his ministers to announce to the world that the hour of his judgment is come, that Babylon has fallen, and that whoever worships the beast and his image must drink of his wrath poured out unmingled into the cup of his indignation, - a threatening more terrible than any other which can be found in the Scriptures of truth, - no man, except at the peril of his soul, can treat these warnings as nonessential, passing them by with neglect and disregard. Hence the necessity for the most earnest endeavor in every age, and especially in the present age, when so many evidences betoken the soon-coming of earth's final crisis, to understand the work of the Lord, lest we lose the benefit of the present truth.

This angel of Rev. 14:6 is called "another angel," from the fact that John had previously seen an angel flying through heaven in a similar manner, as described in chapter 8:13, proclaiming that the last three of the series of seven trumpets were woe trumpets. This was near the close of the sixth century. (See under chapter 8:12.)

The first point to be determined is the chronology of this message. When may the proclamation, "The hour of his judgment is come," be consistently expected? The bare possibility that it may be in our own day renders it very becoming in us to examine this question with serious attention; but the great probability, nay, more, the positive proof that this is so, which will appear in the development of this argument, should set every pulse bounding, and every heart beating high with a sense of the thrilling importance of this hour.

p 635 -- Three positions only are possible on this question of the chronology of this prophecy, and as might be expected, all of them are taken by different expositors. These positions are   (1)    That this message has been given in the past; as, first, in the days of the apostles; or secondly, in the days of the Reformers;   (2)    that it is to be given in a future age; or   (3)    that it belongs to the present generation.

We inquire, first, respecting the past. The very nature of the message forbids the idea that it could have been given in the apostles' days. They did not proclaim that the hour of God's judgment had come. If they had, it would not have been true, and their message would have been stamped with the infamy of falsehood. They did have something to say, however, respecting the judgment; but they pointed to an indefinite future for its accomplishment. In Matt. 10:15; 11:21-24, a quotation from Christ's own words, the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre, Sidon, Chorazin, and Capernaum, was located indefinitely in the future from that day. Paul declared to the superstitious Athenians that God had appointed a day in which he would judge the world. Acts 17:31. He reasoned before Felix "of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come." Acts 24:25. To the Romans he wrote, directing their minds forward to a day when God should judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. Rom. 2:16. He pointed the Corinthians forward to a time when we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Cor. 5:10. James wrote to the brethren scattered abroad that they were, at some time in the future, to be judged by the law of liberty. James 2:12. And both Peter and Jude speak of the first rebel angels as reserved unto the judgment of the great day, still in the future at that time (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6), to which the ungodly in this world are also reserved. 2 Peter 2:9. How different is all this from ringing out upon the world the startling declaration that "the hour of his judgment is come!" - a sound which must be heard whenever the solemn message before us is fulfilled.

From the days of the apostles nothing has taken place which any one, so far as we are aware, could construe into a suggestion

p 636 -- of the fulfilment of the message, till we come to the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Here some seem disposed to make quite a determined stand, claiming that Luther and his colaborers gave the first message, and that the two following messages have been given since his day. This is a question to be to be decided by historical fact rather than by argument; and hence we inquire for the evidence that the Reformers made any such proclamation. Their teaching has been very fully recorded, and their writings preserved. When and where did they arouse the world with the proclamation that the hour of God's judgment had come? We find no record that such was the burden of their preaching at all. On the contrary, it is recorded of Luther that he placed the judgment some three hundred years in the future from his day. Such records ought to be decisive, so far as the Reformers are concerned.

The foregoing considerations being sufficient to forbid utterly the application of the message to the past, we now turn to that view which locates it in a future age. By "future age" is meant a period subsequent to the second advent; and the reason urged for locating the message in that age is the fact that John saw the angel flying through heaven, immediately after having seen the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with the 144,000, which is a future event. If the book of Revelation were one consecutive prophecy, there would be force in this reasoning; but as it consists of a series of independent lines of prophecy, and as it has already been shown that one such chain ends with verse 5 of this chapter, and a new one begins with verse 6, the foregoing view cannot be urged. To show that the message cannot have its fulfilment in a future age, it will be sufficient to remark: -

    1.   The apostolic commission extended only to the "harvest," which is the end of the world. If, therefore, this angel with the "everlasting gospel" comes after that event, he preaches another gospel, and subjects himself to the anathema of Paul in Gal. 1:8.

  2.   The second message cannot, of course, be given before the first; but the second message announces the fall of Babylon, and a voice is heard from heaven after that, saying,

p 637 -- "Come out of her, my people." How absurd to locate this after the second advent of Christ, seeing that all God's people, both living and dead, are at that time caught up to meet the Lord in the air, to be thenceforth forever with him. They cannot be called out of Babylon after this. Christ does not take them to Babylon, but to the Father's house, where there

are many mansions. John 14: 2, 3.

  3.   A glance at the third angel's message, which must be fulfilled in a future age if the first one is, will still further show the absurdity of this view. This message warns against the worship of the beast, which refers, beyond question, to the papal beast. But the papal beast is destroyed and given to the burning flame when Christ comes. Dan. 7:11; 2 Thess. 2:8. He goes into the lake of fire at that time, to disturb the saints of the Most High no more. Rev. 19:20. Why will people involve themselves in the absurdity of locating a message against the worship of the beast at a time when the beast has ceased to exist, and his worship is impossible?

In verse 13 of Revelation 14, a blessing is pronounced upon the dead which die in the Lord "from henceforth;" that is, from the time the third message begins to be given. This is a complete demonstration of the fact that the message must be given prior to the first resurrection; for after that event all who have a part therein (and this includes all, both living and dead, who are not assigned to the second death) become as the angels of God, and can die no more. We therefore dismiss this view concerning the future age as unscriptural, absurd, and impossible.

We are now prepared to examine the third view, that the message belongs to the present generation. The argument on the two preceding points has done much to establish the present proposition; for if the message has not been given in the past, and cannot be given in the future after Christ comes, where else can we locate it but in the present generation, if we are in the last days, as we suppose? Indeed, the very nature of the message itself confines it to the last generation of men. It proclaims the hour of God's judgment come. But the judgment pertains to the closing up of the work of salvation

p 638 -- for the world; and the proclamation announcing its approach can therefore be made only as we come near the end. It is further shown that the message belongs to the present time when it is proved that this angel is identical with the angel of Revelation 10, who utters his message in this generation. That the first angel of Revelation 14 and the angel of Revelation 10 are identical, see argument on the latter chapter.

But the strongest and most conclusive evidence that the message belongs to the present time will consist in finding some movement in this generation through which its fulfilment has been, or is going forward. On this point we refer to a movement of which it would now be hard to find any one who is wholly ignorant. It is the great advent movement of the last century. As early as 1831, Wm. Miller, of Low Hampton, N.Y., by an earnest and consistent study of the prophecies, was led to the conclusion that the gospel dispensation was near its close. He placed the termination, which he thought would occur at the end of the prophetic periods, about the year 1843. This date was afterward extended to the autumn of 1844. (See diagram and argument under Dan. 9:24-27. [Webmaster note: on p 214 -- Picture (Diagram of the 70 Weeks and 2300 Days] ) We call his investigations a consistent study of the prophecies, because he adopted that rule of interpretation which will be found lying at the base of every religious reformation, and of every advance movement in prophetic knowledge; namely, to take all the language of the Scriptures, just as we would that of any other book, to be literal, unless the context or the laws of language require it to be understood figuratively; and to let scripture interpret scripture. True, on a vital point he made a mistake, as will be explained hereafter; but in principle, and in a great number of particulars, he was correct. He was on the right road, and made an immense advance over every theological system of his day. When he began to promulgate his views, they met with general favor, and were followed by great religious awakenings in different parts of the land. Soon a multitude of colaborers gathered around his standard, among whom may be mentioned such men as F. G. Brown, Chas. Fitch, Josiah Litch, J. V. Himes,

p 639 -- and others, who were then eminent for piety, and men of influence in the religious world. The period marked by the years 1840-1844 was one of intense activity and great progress in this work. A message was proclaimed to the world which bore every characteristic of a fulfilment of the proclamation of Rev. 14:6, 7. The preaching was emphatically such as might be called the everlasting (age-lasting) gospel. It pertained to the closing up of this age, and the incoming of the everlasting age ( aiwn ) of the King of righteousness. It was that gospel of the kingdom which Christ declared should be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then the end should come. Matt. 24:14. The fulfilment of either of these scriptures involves the preaching of the nearness of the end. The gospel could not be preached to all nations as a sign of the end, unless it was understood to be such, and the proximity of the end was at least one of its leading themes. The Advent Herald of Dec. 14, 1850, well expressed the truth on this point in the following language:  -

"As an indication of the approach of the end, there was, however, to be seen another angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Rev. 14:6. The burden of this angel was to be the same gospel which had been before proclaimed; but connected with it was the additional motive of the proximity of the kingdom - 'saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.' Verse 7. No mere preaching of the gospel, without announcing its proximity, could fulfil this message."

The persons who were engaged in this movement supposed it to be a fulfilment of prophecy, and claimed that they were giving the message of Rev. 14: 6, 7.

With this movement also began the fulfilment of the parable of the ten virgins, recorded in Matthew 25, which our Lord uttered to illustrate and enforce the doctrine of his second coming and the end of the world, which he had just set forth

p 640 -- in Matthew 24. Those who became interested in this movement went forth to meet the Bridegroom; that is, they were aroused to expect the coming of Christ, and to look and wait for his return from heaven. The Bridegroom tarried. The first point of expectation, the close of the year 1843, which according to Jewish reckoning ended in the spring of 1844, passed by, and the Lord did not come. While he tarried, they all slumbered and slept. Surprised by the unexpected doubt and uncertainty into which they were thrown, the interest of the people began to wane, and their efforts to flag. At midnight there was a cry made, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh! go ye out to meet him." Midway between the spring of 1844, where it was at first supposed that the 2300 days would terminate, and that point in the autumn of 1844 to which it was afterward ascertained that they really extended, just such a cry as this was suddenly raised. Involuntarily, this very phraseology was adopted: "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh." The cause of this sudden arousing was the discovery that the great prophetic period of 2300 days (years) of Dan. 8:14 did not end in the spring of 1844, but would extend to the autumn of that year, and consequently that the time at which they supposed they were warranted to look for the appearing of the Lord had not passed by, but was indeed at the door. At the same time, the relation between the type and the antitype relating to the cleansing of the sanctuary was partially seen. The prophecy declared that at the end of the 2300 days the sanctuary should be cleansed; and as in the type the sanctuary was cleansed on the tenth day of the seventh month of the Jewish year, that point in the autumn of 1844 was accordingly fixed upon for the termination of the 2300 years. It fell on the 22d of October. Between the mid-summer of 1844, when the light on these subjects was first seen, and the day and month above named when the 2300 years terminated, perhaps no movement ever exhibited greater actitvity than this respecting the soon coming of Christ, and in no cause was ever more accomplished in so short a space of time. A religious wave swept over this country, and the nation was stirred as no people have been stirred since the opening of the great

p 641 -- Reformation of the sixteenth century. This was called the "seventh-month movement," and was more particularly confined to the United States and Canada.

But the general movement respecting the second advent of Christ, and the proclamation that "the hour of his judgment is come," was not confined to this hemisphere. It was worldwide. It fulfilled in this respect the proclamation of the angel "to every nation and kindred and tongue and people." In Advent Tracts, Vol. II, p. 135, Mourant Brock, an English writer, is quoted as saying: -

"It is not merely in Great Britain that the expectation of the near return of the Redeemer is entertained, and the voice of warning raised, but also in America, India, and on the continent of Europe. In America, about three hundred ministers of the word are thus preaching ' this gospel of the kingdom;' while in this country [Great Britain], about seven hundred of the Church of England are raising the same cry."

Dr. Joseph Wolff traveled in Arabia Felix, through the region inhabited by the descendants of Hobab, Moses' father-in-law. In his mission to Bokhara, he speaks as follows of a book which he saw in Yemen: -

"The Arabs of this place have a book called 'Seera,' which treats of the second coming of Christ, and his reign in glory! In Yemen I spent six days with the Rechabites. 'They drink no wine, plant no vineyards, sow no seed, live in tents, and remember the words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab.' With them were the children of Israel of the tribe of Dan, who reside near Terim in Hatramawt, who expect, in common with the children of Rechab, the speedy arrival of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven."

The Voice of the Church, by D. T. Taylor, pp. 342-344, speaks as follows concerning the wide diffusion of the advent sentiment: -

"In Wurtemberg, there is a Christian colony numbering hundreds, who look for the speedy advent of Christ; also another of like belief on the shores of the Caspian; the Molokaners, a large body of Dissenters from the Russian Greek Church, residing on the shores of the Baltic - a very pious

p 642 -- people, of whom it is said, 'Taking the Bible alone for their creed, the norm of their faith is simply the Holy Scriptures' - are characterized by the 'expectation of Christ's immediate and visible reign upon earth.' In Russia, the doctrine of Christ's coming and reign is preached to some extent, and received by many of the lower class. It has been extensively agitated in Germany, particularly in the south part among the Moravians. In Norway, charts and books on the advent have been circulated extensively, and the doctrine has been received by many. Among the Tartars in Tartary, there prevails an expectation of Christ's advent about this time. English and American publications on this doctrine have been sent to Holland, Germany, India, Ireland, Constantinople, Rome, and to nearly every missionary station on the globe. At the Turk's Islands, it has been received to some extent among the Wesleyans.

"Mr Fox, a Scottish missionary to the Teloogoo people, was a believer in Christ's soon coming. James McGregor Bertram, a Scottish missionary of the Baptist order at St. Helena, has sounded the cry extensively on that island, making many converts and premillennialists; he has also preached it at South Africa at the missionary stations there. David N. Lord informs us that a large proportion of the missionaries who have gone from Great Britain to make known the gospel to the heathen, and who are now laboring in Asia and Africa are millenarians; and Joseph Wolff, D.D., according to his journals, between the years 1821 and 1845, proclaimed the Lord's speedy advent in Palestine, Egypt, on the shores of the Red Sea, Mesopotamia, the Crimea, Persia, Georgia, throughout the Ottoman empire, in Greece, Arabia, Toorkistan, Bokhara, Afghanistan, Cashmere, Hindustan, Thibet, Holland, Scotland, and Ireland, at Constantinople, Jerusalem, St. Helena, also on shipboard in the Mediterranean, and at New York City to all denominations. He declares he has preached among Jews, Turks, Mohammedans, Parsees, Hindus, Chaldeans, Yeseedes, Syrians, Sabeans, to pashas, sheiks, shahs, the kings of Organtsh and Bokhara, the queen of Greece, etc.; and of his extraordinary labors the Investigator says, 'No individual has, perhaps, given greater publicity to the doctrine of the second

p 643 -- coming of the Lord Jesus Christ than has this well-known missionary to the world. Wherever he goes, he proclaims the approaching advent of the Messiah in glory.'"

Elder J. N. Andrews, in his work on The Three Messages of Revelation 14:6-12, pp. 32-35, speaks as follows concerning the message under consideration: -

"None can deny that this world-wide warning of impending judgment has been given. The nature of the evidence adduced in its support now claims our attention, as furnishing the most conclusive testimony that it was a message from Heaven.

"All the great outlines of the world's prophetic history were shown to be complete in the present generation. The great prophetic chain of Daniel 2, also those of chapters 7, 8, 11, and 12, were shown to be just accomplished. The same was true of our Lord's prophetic description of the gospel dispensation. Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21. The prophetic periods of Daniel 7, 8, 9, 12; Revelation 11, 12, 13, were shown to harmonize with, and unitedly to sustain, this great proclamation. The signs in the heavens and upon the earth and sea, in the church and among the nations, with one voice bore witness to the warning which God addressed to the human family. Joel 2:30, 31; Matt. 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-26; Luke 21:25-36; 2 Timothy 3; 2 Peter 3; Rev. 6:12, 13. And besides the mighty array of evidence on which this warning is based, the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in connection with this proclamation set the seal of Heaven to its truth.

"The warning of John the Baptist, which was to prepare the way for the first advent of our Lord, was of short duration, and limited in its extent. For each prophetic testimony which sustained the work of John, we have several which support the proclamation of Christ's near advent. John had not the aid of the press to disseminate his proclamation, nor the facility of Nahum's chariots; he was a humble man, dressed in camel's hair, and he performed no miracles. If the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves in not being baptized of John, how great must be the guilt of those

p 644 -- who reject the warning sent by God to prepare the way of the second advent!

"But those were disappointed who expected the Lord in 1843 and 1844. This fact is with many a sufficient reason for rejecting all the testimony in this case. We acknowledge the disappointment, but cannot acknowledge that this furnishes a just reason for denying the hand of God in this work. The Jewish church was disappointed when, at the close of the work of John the Baptist, Jesus presented himself as the promised Messiah. And the trusting disciples were most sadly disappointed when he whom they expected to deliver Israel was by wicked hands taken and slain. And after his resurrection, when they expected him to restore again the kingdom to Israel, they could not but be disappointed when they understood that he was going away to his Father, and that they were to be left for a long season to tribulation and anguish. But disappointment does not prove that God has no hand in the guidance of his people. It should lead them to correct their errors, but it should not lead them to cast away their confidence in God. It was because the children of Israel were disappointed in the wilderness that they so often denied divine guidance. They are set forth as an admonition to us, that we should not fall after the same example of unbelief.

*******

Disappointment.

God knew we'd feel this.  God knew we'd murmur.

2Pe 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Yet thousands of years later we wait and we MUST believe our thousands of years are but a couple of days for our Lord.  A couple days.  Our SAVIOR will NOT be accused of being SLACK concerning His promise of salvation towards us.  What we may cry out is too long, He cries out that He doesn't want any that would be His to perish! He wants to give ALL a chance!  How can we deny the very One who is willing to save us from our wretched, death deserving sins a chance to save as many as would choose Him?  How can we cut short the horrors that appall us on so many levels when there is yet another who would belong to Christ.

Yes, we are tempted to disappointment, tempted to doubt, tempted to think things we shouldn't and only by the grace of our Lord will we  be forgiven for these wrongs.

We must believe that our Savior will return at the right time, and all that we suffer until then is necessary because EVERYTHING here is temporary to eternity but the LOVE of  our GOD! 

By the grace and mercy of our Lord may we be ready as HIS fully submitted to HIM in all things.

Now and forever may we be HIS.

Amen.

144,000

(Excerpts from Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith)

CHAPTER -- XIV -- The Three Messages

p 628 -- VERSE 1. And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.   2.    And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:   3.    And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.   4.   These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.   5.    And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

It is a pleasing feature of the prophetic word that the people of God are never brought into positions of trial and difficulty, and there abandoned.

Taking them down into scenes of danger, the voice of prophecy does not there cease, leaving them to guess their fate, in doubt, perhaps despair, as to the final result; but it takes them through to the end, and shows the issue in every conflict.

The first five verses of Revelation 14 are an instance of this. The 13th chapter closed with the people of God, a small and apparently weak and defenseless company, in deadly conflict with the mightiest powers of earth which the dragon is able to muster to his service. A decree is passed, backed up by the supreme power of the land, that they shall worship the image and receive the mark, under pain of death if they refuse to comply. What can the people of God do in such a conflict and in such an extremity? What

p 629 -- will become of them? Glance forward with the apostle to the very next scene in the program, and what do we behold? - The very same company standing on Mount Zion with the Lamb, - a victorious company, harping on symphonic harps their triumph in the court of heaven. Thus are we assured that when the time of our conflict with the powers of darkness comes, deliverance is not only certain, but will immediately be given.

That the 144,000 here seen on Mount Zion are the saints who were just before brought to view as objects of the wrath of the beast and his image, there are the very best of reasons for believing.

1. They are identical with those sealed in Revelation 7, who have already been shown to be the righteous who are alive at the second coming of Christ.

2. They are the overcomers in the sixth or Philadelphian state of the church. (See Rev. 3:11, 12.)

3. They are "redeemed from among men" (verse 4), an expression which can be applicable only to those who are translated from among the living.

Paul labored, if by any means he might attain to a resurrection out from among the dead. Phil. 3:11. This is the hope of those who sleep in Jesus, - a resurrection from the dead. A redemption from among men, from among the living, must mean a different thing, and can mean only one thing, and that is translation. Hence the 144,000 are the living saints, who will be translated at the second coming of Christ. (See on verse 13, note.)

On what Mount Zion does John see this company standing? - The Mount Zion above; for the voice of harpers, which no doubt is uttered by these very ones, is heard from heaven; the same Zion from which the Lord utters his voice when he speaks to his people in close connection with the coming of the Son of man. Joel 3:16; Heb. 12:26-28; Rev. 16:17. A just consideration of the fact that there is a Mount Zion in heaven, and a Jerusalem above, would be a powerful antidote for the hallucination of the doctrine known as "The Age to Come."

A few more particulars only respecting the 144,000 in

p 630 -- addition to those given in chapter 7, will claim notice in these brief remarks.

  1. They have the name of the Lamb's Father in their foreheads. In chapter 7, they are said to have the seal of God in their foreheads. An important key to an understanding of the seal of God is thus furnished us; for we at once perceive that the Father regards his name as his seal. That commandment of the law which contains God's name is therefore the seal of the law. The Sabbath commandment is the only one which has this; that is, that contains the descriptive title which distinguishes the true God from all false gods. Wherever this was placed, there the Father's name was said to be (Deut. 12:5, 14, 18, 21; 14:23; 16:2, 6; etc.); and whoever keeps this commandment has, consequently, the seal of the living God.

  2. They sing a new song which no other company is able to learn. In chapter 15:3, it is called the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. The song of Moses, as may be seen by reference to Exodus 15, was the song of his experience and deliverance. Therefore the song of the 144,000 is the song of their deliverance. No others can join in it; for no other company will have had an experience like theirs.

  3. They were not defiled with women. A woman is in Scripture the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman representing a pure church, a corrupt woman an apostate church. It is, then, a characteristic of this company that at the time of their deliverance they are not defiled with, or have no connection with, the fallen churches of the land. Yet we are not to understand that they never had any connection with these churches; for it is only at a certain time that people become defiled by them. In chapter 18:4, we find a call issued to the people of God while they are in Babylon, to come out, lest they become partakers of her sins. Heeding that call, and 1eaving her connection, they escape the defilement of her sins. So of the 144,000; though some of them may have once had a connection with corrupt churches, they sever that connection when it would become sin to retain it longer.

  4. They follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. We understand that this is spoken of them in their redeemed state.

p 631 -- They are the special companions of their glorified Lord in the kingdom. Chapter 7:17, speaking of the same company and at the same time, says, "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters."

  5. They are "first-fruits" unto God and the Lamb. This term appears to be applied to different ones to denote especial conditions. Christ is the first-fruits as the antitype of the wave-sheaf. The first receivers of the gospel are called by James (chapter 1:18) a kind of first-fruits. So the 144,000, ripening up for the heavenly garner here on earth during the troublous scenes of the last days, being translated to heaven without seeing death, and occupying a pre-eminent position, are, in this sense, as would seem very consistent, called first-fruits unto God and the Lamb. With this description of the 144,000 triumphant, the line of prophecy commencing with chapter 12 comes to a close.

*******

144,000.

By the grace of God may we be among them!

May our Savior return soon!

All through HIS LOVE, HIS MERCY, HIS GRACE!

Do I still believe it must all come to pass... yes.

Rev. 13--   16   And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:   17   And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Daniel and Revelation- Revelation Chapter 13-  (by Uriah Smith 1897-1911?) Excerpt-

*******

(1911…)

Another most significant and alarming step toward the accomplishment of these evil designs, is the position taken by the great "Christian Endeavor" movement, which has arisen to a membership of millions within a few years, and is a common channel through which all denominations can work. The political functions of this great body are centered in a "Christian Citizenship League," which boasts that it will have branches in every state, county, city, village, and hamlet in the United States, and see to it that only Christian men are put into office. What remarkable "conversions" will then take place! How politicians will become "Christians," and the "millennium" hasten on! At the great Christian Endeavor convention, held in Boston, Mass., July 10-15, 1895, W. H. McMillan, as given in the published Proceedings, p. 19, said: -

"Here is a power that is going to wrest the control of affairs from the hands of political demagogues, and place it in the hands of Him who is King over all, and rules the world in righteousness. Our political leaders have been counting the

p 617 -- saloon vote, the illiterate vote, and the stay-at-home vote, and all other elements that have hitherto entered into their canvassing's of probabilities; but they have not yet learned to count the Christian Endeavor vote. I want to serve notice on them now that the time is drawing near when they will discover that a political revolution has occurred, and they will be found coming home from Washington and our state capitals without a job." 

These sentiments were cheered to the echo in the convention; and it is not difficult to foresee the effect they will have; for they were intended for that class of men among whom they "will do the most good;" that is, the body of average politicians, who, when threatened with a boycott, become the most abject sycophants on the face of the earth.

All this, however, would be of no avail, if those who are really patriots at heart would awake to this danger before they find themselves committed to movements, the effects of which they did not foresee, and if the two houses of Congress would stand true to the Constitution which they are sworn to maintain; for this movement means nothing less than a subversion of that noble instrument.

But alas! Congress has already turned its back on its sacred trust to fawn upon the church influence so rapidly rising. When the managers of the World's Fair of 1893, in Chicago, asked Congress for an appropriation in their behalf, churchmen brought their influence to bear upon the national legislators, and induced them to make it a condition of the gift that the gates of the Fair be closed on Sunday. In carrying this point a most remarkable scene occurred. A senator called for a Bible, and caused the clerk to read the fourth commandment of the decalogue; whereupon grave statesmen argued, and at length by vote decided, that the day enjoined by that commandment as the Sabbath, is Sunday!

This was legislating upon a religious question, which the Constitution expressly forbids. (See Amendment I.) It broke down the barriers against the union of church and state, and opened the flood-gates for all the evils that invariably accompany such a union. The religious-amendment clergy hailed the

p 618 -- event as a great triumph, and openly boasted that they had Congress in their hands, and could compel it to do their bidding.

What the practical working of these changes will be is already made apparent. On the statute-books of most of the states of the American Union, are found Sunday laws; and as the agitation in behalf of the seventh day increases, religious zealots are not slow to use these laws to put the machinery of persecution in operation. Observers of the seventh day manifest no defiance of these laws in laboring on Sunday, as the higher law of God gives them an unalienable right to do; and they studiously refrain from disturbing others, or in any way infringing upon their rights, by boisterous or offensive labor. Yet it is construed to be "disturbance," if they are even seen anywhere at work, or even if it is known that they are at work anywhere, though unseen or unheard. If no other way appears for detection, they are searched out by ministers or church-members, or the police acting under their direction. Then follow arrest, conviction, and penalty by fine, imprisonment, or the chain-gang. Up to Jan. 1, 1896, over one hundred arrests of this kind had been made, some of them under circumstances of great oppression and cruelty, fines and costs had been imposed to the amount of $2,269, and prisoners had served an aggregate of nearly fifteen hundred days in jail and chain-gangs.

But public sentiment would not endorse such proceedings, and the leaders in the movement, noting this fact, decided to call a halt until such time as they would have public opinion molded in their favor. Hence there have been fewer cases of prosecation for non-observance of Sunday in recent years; but meanwhile a vigorous campaign has been carried on by the National Reform party, the "International Reform Bureau" or lobby at Washington, D. C., the "Lord's Day Alliance," the "Sunday League of America," the "New England Sabbath Protective League," and other religious bodies, having in view the creation of Sunday-law sentiment among the people, and in the state legislatures, and especially in the national legislature at Washington. Within recent years, the contest between the

p 619 -- friends and foes of American liberty, has been concentrated upon an effort to commit Congress to religious legislation by the enactment of a Sunday law for the District of Columbia. Bills for this purpose have been repeatedly introduced, and one introduced by Senator Johnston, of Alabama, in 1908, has been urged upon Congress continually up to this date (1911), being promptly reintroduced at the first opportunity after each faillure of enactment; and the intention seems to be to keep pressing it upon Congress until that body yields to the demand, and the decisive step is taken which will give to the cause of religious legislation the endorsement of the national government. That will greatly strengthen the Sunday movement throughout the nation, and the work of securing and enforcing Sunday legislation in the state governments will be much more easily accomplished. 

At this point it may be profitable to take a glance at the progress of the Sunday-law movement in this country during the recent past. The following are some of the more prominent of the events which mark its advancement.

   1890. - Breckenridge Sunday bill for the District of Columbia introduced in Congress. (January 6.)

  1892. - Congress orders the gates of the Chicago World's Fair closed on Sunday, and decides that Sunday is the Sabbath of the decalogue. (July 19.)

  1900.  -  Congress makes the appropriation of $5,000,000 for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, conditional upon Sunday closing of the gates "during the whole duration of the fair." (March 1.)

  1904. - A Sunday bill for the District of Columbia passed the House of Representatives. (April 6.)

  1906. - Congress makes the appropriation of $250,000 for the Jamestown Exposition, conditional upon Sunday closing. (June 29.)

  1906. - Wadsworth District Sunday bill passes House of Representatives. (June 11.)

  1908. - Samuel Gompers officially announces that the Arnerican Federation of Labor not only is in favor of Sunday rest, but that it has "done as much, if not more, than any other

p 620 -- organized body of men and women, to enforce the observance of the Sunday rest-day." (September 14.)

  1907-8. - Ten bills for Sunday observance introduced during the first session of the sixtieth Congress. (December 5 to May 1.)

  1908. - Johnston District Sunday bill, passed by the Senate. (May 15.)

  1909. - Johnston District Sunday bill reintroduced in the Senate. (March 22.)

  1910. - Johnston District Sunday bill reintroduced in Senate. (January 17.)

            - Johnston District Sunday bill passes Senate. (January 27.)

            - Johnston District Sunday bill introduced in the House. (January 28.)

  1911. - Johnston District Sunday bill introduced in special session of Congress. (April 6.)

            - Favorably reported by the Senate District Committee. (May 22.)

            - Mann bill, "For the Observance of Sunday in Post-Offices," introduced in House of Representatives. (May 16.)

All this is exclusive of Sunday legislation in the states of the union, and in other countries. During the year 1910 there was such legislation or agitation over the same, in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, North Dakota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the countries of Canada, England, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland.

Most of the state governments have in their constitutions, or in their adopted "Bill of Rights," provisions guaranteeing the fullest religious liberty; and the inconsistency of legislating on religious questions, under these circumstances, is at once seen; while the treachery of oppressing people for opinion's sake, in such states, is keenly felt. Every conceivable invention is therefore resorted to, to make it appear that it is not religious persecution at all, but only the question of obedience to civil law. One of these inventions is that Sunday is only a civil institution, and its enforcement only a police regulation, a civil requirement necessary for the public good. But this is

p 621 -- impossible; for every one knows that Sunday in its origin, history, and very nature, is a religious institution. No claims in its behalf would ever have been heard of, but for its religious basis. Hence any enactment to enforce it by pains and penalties is religious legislation and religious oppression. 

But if there is a law for it, should not that law be obeyed until repealed? Every law that does not trench upon the domain of conscience, if it becomes unacceptable to the people, should nevertheless be obeyed till it can be changed or repealed. But Sunday laws interfere with the conscience of the observer of another day, and for that reason cannot "bear upon all alike." And no true Christian can make his obedience to God depend upon the permission of his fellow men. It may be said again, In a country like the United States, do not majorities rule? and must not their decisions be obeyed? And the answer again is, Yes, in everything but questions of conscience, but never there. "Render ... unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Men may legislate to guard the mutual rights of all members of society, but no further; and in this they will never infringe upon the rights of any one's conscience; for a "good" conscience (I Peter 3:21) will never invade the rights of others, like the polygamy of the Mormons, or the human sacrifices of the heathen.

The founders of the American republic never intended that any trouble should arise, through the laws of the land, over any question of conscience; but they permitted the evil principle of religious laws to remain in their political structure, a principle sure to spring to life at the first opportunity. In the further development of religious truth, it is now found that these laws forbid men to render obedience to what the Bible requires of them, and thus conflict with their unalienable rights. Such laws, therefore, the Christian cannot regard, and the government, to be true to its professed principles, should wipe them off the statute-books wherever found. But this the religio-political clergy will not permit; and the nation is doomed; for it will thus put itself in line with the religious despotisms of the past; and the cry will go up from God's suffering children,

p 622 -- "It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law." Ps. 119:126.

While, according to the prophecy, the "image" can be looked for only in the United States, the worship of the beast will prevail in other countries also; for all the world is to wonder after the beast.

Some one may now say, As you expect this movement to carry, you must look for a period of religious persecution in the United States; nay, more, you must take the position that all the saints of God are to be put to death; for the image is to cause that all who will not worship it shall be killed.

A period of persecution has been for about fifty years expected and predicted. It has now begun, and is thus demonstrating the correctness of the application of the prophecy as set forth in this work; but it does not by any means follow that all, and we do not think that even many, will be put to death, though a decree to that effect will be promulgated; for, as the prophet elsewhere declares, God does not abandon his people to defeat in this dire conflict, but grants them a complete victory over the beast, his image, his mark, and the number of his name. Rev. 15:2. We further read respecting this earthly power, that he causeth all to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads; yet chapter 20:4 speaks of the people of God as those who do not receive the mark, nor worship the image. If, then, he could "cause" all to receive the mark, and yet all not actually receive it, in like manner his causing all to be put to death who will not worship the image does not necessarily signify that their lives are actually to be taken.

But how can this be? Answer:   It evidently cornes under that rule of interpretation in accordance with which verbs of action sometimes signify merely the will and endeavor to do the action in question, and not the actual performance of the thing specified. The late George Bush, Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Literature in New York City University, makes this matter plain. In his notes on Ex. 7:11 he says:  -

"It is a canon of interpretation of frequent use in the exposition of the sacred writings that verbs of action sometimes

p 623 -- signify merely the will and endeavor to do the action in question. Thus in Eze. 24:13: 'I have purified thee, and thou wast not purged;' i.e., I have endeavored, used means, been at pains, to purify thee. John 5:44: 'How can ye believe which receive honor one of another?' i. e., endeavor to receive. Rom. 2:4: 'The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance;' i. e., endeavors, or tends, to lead thee. Arnos 9:3: 'Though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea;' i. e., though they aim to be hid. I Cor. 10:33: 'I please all men;' i. e., endeavor to please. Gal. 5:4: 'Whosoever of you are justified by the law;' i. e., seek or endeavor to be justified. Ps. 69:4: 'They that destroy me are mighty;' i. e., that endeavor to destroy me; English, 'That would destroy me.' Acts 7:26: 'And set them at one again;' i. e., wished and endeavored; English, 'Would have set them.'" 

So in the passage before us. He causes all to receive a mark, and all who will not worship the image to be killed; that is, he wills, purposes, and endeavors to do this. He makes such an enactment; passes such a law, but is not able to execute it; for God interposes in behalf of his people; and then those who have kept the word of Christ's patience are kept from falling in this hour of temptation, according to Rev. 3:10; then those who have made God their refuge are kept from all evil, and no plague comes nigh their dwelling, according to Ps. 91:9, 10; then all who are found written in the book are delivered, according to Dan. 12:1; and, being victors over the beast and his image, they are redeemed from among men, and raise a song of triumph before the throne of God, according to Rev. 14:2-4.

The objector may further say, You are altogether too credulous in supposing that the masses of our people, many of whom are either indifferent or wholly opposed to the claims of religion, can be so far brought to favor the religious observance of Sunday that a general law can be promulgated in its behalf.

We answer, The prophecy must be fulfilled, and if the prophecy requires such a revolution, it will be accomplished.

To receive the mark of the beast in the forehead is, we understand, to give the assent of the mind and judgment to his

p 624 -- authority in the adoption of that institution which constitutes the mark. By parity of reasoning, to receive it in the hand would be to signify allegiance by some outward act.

VERSE 18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

The Number of His Name. - The number of the beast, says the prophecy, "is the number of a man;" and if it is to be derived from a name or title, the natural conclusion would be that it must be the name or title of some particular man. The most plausible expression we have seen suggested as containing the number of the beast, is the title which the pope takes to himself, and allows others to apply to him. That title is this: Vicarius FiIii Dei, "Vicegerent of the Son of God." Taking the letters out of this title which the Latins used as numerals, and giving them their numerical value, we have just 666. Thus we have V, 5; I, 1; C, 100 (a and r not used as numerals); I, 1; U (formerly the same as V), 5 (s and f not used as numerals); I, 1; L, 50; I, 1; I, 1; D, 500 (e not used as a numeral); I, 1. Adding these numbers together, we have just 666.

This title, there is reason to believe, was formerly inscribed upon the pope's crown. The following testimony on this point is given by the late Elder D. E. Scoles, of Washburn, Mo.:  -

"I have met two men who declare that they have seen this specific crown; and their testimony is so perfectly in agreement that I am convinced that what they saw is true. The first man was M. De Latti, a Sabbath-keeper who had previously been a Catholic priest, and had spent four years in Rome. He visited me when I was pastor in St. Paul, Minn., several years ago. I showed him my tract, 'The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast.' He at once told me that the inscription was not correctly placed in my illustration. He stated that he had often seen it in the museum at the Vatican, and

p 625 -- gave a detailed and accurate description of the whole crown. When my tract was published, I was ignorant of the arrangement of the words of the Latin inscription, hence, in the illustration of the crown, placed them in one line. Brother De Latti at once pointed out the mistake, and said the first word of the sentence was on the first crown of the triple arrangement, the second word on the second part of the crown, while the word Dei was on the lower division of the triple crown. He also explained that the first two words were in dark-colored jewels, while the Dei was composed entirely of diamonds. 

"During a tent-meeting which I held in Webb City, Mo., I presented the subject, 'The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast.' I used charts to illustrate it, one being a reproduction of the crown as Brother De Latti had described it. A Presbyterian minister was present, Rev. B. Hoffman, and when I described the crown, he spoke out publicly and made a statement to the congregation, saying that while in Rome studying for the priesthood, he had seen this very crown, and noted its inscription, and that the word Dei was composed of one hundred diamonds. I met him and learned his name, and visited him at his home, and was convinced from his description that this was the identical crown that Brother De Latti had seen, but which has been denied by many. I then asked him for a written statement, and he gave me the following: -

"'To Whom It May Concern:    This is to certify that I was born in Bavaria in 1828, was educated in Munich, and was reared a Roman Catholic. In 1844 and 1845 I was a student for the priesthood in the Jesuit College in Rome. During the Easter service of 1845, Pope Gregory XVI wore a triple crown upon which was the inscription, in jewels, Vicarius Filii Dei. We were told that there were one hundred diamonds in the word Dei; the other words were of some other kind of precious stones of a darker color. There was one word upon each crown, and not all on the same line. I was present at the service, and saw the crown distinctly, and noted it carefully.

"'In 1850 I was converted to God and to Protestantism. Two years later I entered the Evangelical Church ministry, but later in life I united with the Presbyterian Church, of

p 626 -- which I am now a retired pastor, having been in the ministry for fifty years.

"'I have made the above statement at the request of Elder D. E. Scoles, as he states that some deny that the pope ever wore this tiara. But I know that he did, for I saw it upon his head.

"'Sincerely yours in Christian service,

(Signed) 

"' B. HOFFMAN,

"' Webb City, Mo., Oct. 29, 1906.'"

The following extract is from a work entitled The Refomation, bearing the date of 1832:  -

"'Mrs. A.,' said Miss Emmons, 'I saw a very curious fact the other day; I have dwelt upon it much, and will mention it. A person, lately, was witnessing a ceremony of the Romish Church. As the pope passed him in procession, splendidly dressed in his pontifical robes, the gentleman's eye rested on these full, blazing letters in front of his miter: "VICARIUS FILII DEI," the Vicar of the Son of God. His thoughts, with the rapidity of lightning, reverted to Rev. 13:18.'    'Will you turn to it?' said Mrs. A. Alice opened the New Testament and read: 'Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.' She paused, and Miss Emmons said, 'He took out his pencil, and marking the numerical letters of the inscription on his tablet, it stood 666.'"

Here we have indeed the number of a man, even the "man of sin;" and it is a little singular, perhaps providential, that he should select a title which shows the blasphemous character of the beast, and then cause it to be inscribed upon his miter, as if to brand himself with the number 666. The foregoing extract doubtless refers to a particular pope on a particular occasion. Other popes might not wear the title emblazoned on the miter, as there stated. But this does not affect the application at all; for the popes all assume to be the "Vicar of Christ" (see Standard Dictionary under "vicar"), and the Latin words given above are the words which express that

p 627 -- title, in the form "vicar of the Son of God;" and their numerical value is 666.

Thus closes chapter 13, leaving the people of God with the powers of earth in deadly array against them, and the decrees of death and banishment from society upon them for their adherence to the truth. Spiritualism will be, at the time specified, performing its most imposing wonders, deceiving all the world except the elect. Matt. 24:24; 2 Thess. 2:8-12.

 This will be the "hour of temptation," or trial, which is to come, as the closing test, upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth, as mentioned in Rev. 3:10. What is the issue of this conflict? This important inquiry is not left unanswered. The first five verses of the following chapter, which should have been numbered as a part of this, complete the chain of this prophecy, and reveal the glorious triumph of the champions of the truth. 

*******

Read the last few paragraphs again--

'Thus closes chapter 13, leaving the people of God with the powers of earth in deadly array against them, and the decrees of death and banishment from society upon them for their adherence to the truth. Spiritualism will be, at the time specified, performing its most imposing wonders, deceiving all the world except the elect. Matt. 24:24; 2 Thess. 2:8-12.

This will be the "hour of temptation," or trial, which is to come, as the closing test, upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth, as mentioned in Rev. 3:10. What is the issue of this conflict? This important inquiry is not left unanswered. The first five verses of the following chapter, which should have been numbered as a part of this, complete the chain of this prophecy, and reveal the glorious triumph of the champions of the truth.'

This is truth. Yes, perhaps so much time has passed it barely seems relevant that all that happened because it didn't seem to result in the 'mark of the beast', it didn't seem to result in our imminent salvation. The Sunday law came and passed away and today there is barely anyone who holds the false sabbath sacred let alone having it close to becoming a law.

Do I believe it still must come to pass? I believe God's word. I believe God's prophecy. I believe that for this nation to come to a place where enforcing any religious laws upon anyone that there will have to be some major changes first. I've spoken of that before and I still believe it.

More tomorrow by the GRACE and MERCY of our LORD and SAVIOR- through HIS WILL ALONE!

Amen.